BERLIN - Former Florida State men’s swimmer Pavel Sankovich placed sixth in the 50m backstroke on Thursday at the 2014 European Championships in Berlin with a final time of 25.11. The meet started on Monday, Aug. 18 and will run through Aug. 24 at the Velodrom, which is a part of the Europa-Sportpark in Berlin.

“That’s a solid swim,” head coach Frank Bradley said. “It was encouraging to see him get significantly faster and improve each time he swam that race.”

While representing Belarus in prelims on Wednesday (Aug.20), Sankovich swam a time of 25.57, placing him 14th for the semifinal heats. Racing on the outside in lane one of the second semifinal heat, Sankovich grabbed fourth place with a time of 25.23, out-touching Russia’s Nikita Ulyanov by one-one hundredth of a second (25.24) in order to take the eighth and last spot for the championship final.

On Thursday evening, Sankovich dropped even more time and improved his position by finishing sixth with a final time of 25.11.

His final time was almost a full second fast than his previous performance at the Slovenia Open, which was held on July 31 (26.08).

Sankovich will compete in the 100 fly prelims, which begin on Friday.

Pike Ready for Pac Pacific Championships

Former FSU swimmer Jared Pike will represent South Africa in a pair of breaststroke events at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, which are being held at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in Queensland, Australia.

As the third-fastest breaststroke swimmer in his country, Pike will contest in the 100m breast on Friday before finishing the meet by competing the 200m distance on Sunday.

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